Facts of Sparks
by LGTracy
Summary: Bayverse - Sequel to 'Blue Spark for Soundwave.'  Rated M for controversial topic.  Not graphic, more social.  If you don't agree, you don't have to read


_**Disclaimer:**__ Transformers are trademarked and owned by Hasbro. Urielle (Ellie) is my creation though.__No infringement is intended or implied. No financial gain received__._

**A/N** _Sequel to 'A Blue Spark for Soundwave.' Rated M for controversial content. Hope this story can support other authors' plots. TL_

The Facts of Sparks

Ellie was stunned. Well, if this didn't beat all. Her dad was going to give her the birds and bees' speech. Never mind the fact she was fifteen and already knew about the mechanics, and even the science, about human reproduction, but the fact he believed he had to tell her? So, maybe he needed this weird sort of parent moment, she reasoned.

She was in his cab as they drove the few thousand miles to the house. He was quiet, which made her even more nervous. She rubbed at her cheek again to try and calm herself.

"Did you know about that?" he asked her to break the silence.

"About what?" she wasn't sure what he was talking about.

"The mark on your cheek."

"What mark?" she really wasn't sure what he was talking about.

"When you rubbed your cheek, you made it all red which revealed a pale mark."

"Really? What does it look like?"

He sighed through the speakers. "It is the mark of the Primes, Ree."

"So, what does it look like?"

"It is the same mark I have on my right helm-cheek plate, sparkette," he revealed.

"I have a mark like yours? Cool!" she happily exclaimed.

"Cool?"

"Yeah! It means I can tell anyone who asks that I have another family birthmark."

"No baby. You can't be so forthcoming with that information."

"Why not?"

"Because it will make you a target for any enemies of mine, yours and the Cybertronians in general."

"Why?"

"Because you are special, and the mark reveals a little bit more about how special you actually are."

"Okay. So, what does that have to do with the facts of life speech you wanted to tell me?"

He sighed again heavily. He was so not looking forward to this.

"Let me ask you this, when you were shocking Bumblebee, what did it feel like?"

She was thoughtful as she tried to recall. "Well, first, I felt a sort of strange tingle in my birthmark on my shoulder. Then, when I would get near him, it would get painful, and I just had to touch him. I don't know why, but I just knew that if I touched him, it would go away.

"Then, after the charge was gone, I would feel better."

"Did you feel that way with Soundwave?"

"Yes."

"Why did you start rubbing your cheek when you shocked Soundwave?"

"He shocked me back. It made my cheek itch, right where my Prime's mark must be."

Optimus swerved in surprise at the admission. He ignored the other's questions about his sobriety.

"Did Bumblebee ever shock you back?" he thought he already knew. He didn't think his young soldier would be so agreeable to the extended exercise schedule if he hadn't at least suspected this.

"Yes. But I think I caught him by surprise and he didn't mean to."

"I'm certain it was unintentional on both sides," he allowed.

"What I need to tell you is going to be . . . unconventional for you," Optimus started.

"When has anything in my life ever been conventional?" she wondered aloud.

Optimus allowed the remark to go unanswered.

"You know how my spark is about the same thing as a human's heart? It provides me with life?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, it's more than that for us. When a mech decides that he wishes to feel anything of substance for another mech, he will share his spark with that mech."

"Sounds painful," she glowered as she tried to make sense of what he was saying.

"Alright, this is confusing you. Let me start again."

"Okay. Just remember even though I'm only fifteen, I am rather bright. Don't try to dumb it down so much and maybe we'll both get through this a little easier. You know I'll ask questions if I need to."

Optimus chuckled. She liked to ask questions, a lot of questions.

"Good idea.

"Okay, the one thing that unites Cybertronians, both Deceptacons and Autobots is a Spark. Every single one of us has one, and because of that, sparks are the center of our emotional and biological behaviors.

"We have a process called spark sharing. There are many different reasons to share one's spark; to demonstrate romantic interest, to mark someone as your friend, to display that you are protected by another, to grant life and so on."

"Like when I was dead when you fought my uncle?"

His entire frame shook with the memory, "Yes, sparkette. When you died and I just couldn't let you go. I opened my chest plates and willed my spark into you. Fortunately, it worked because you're here. I knew you would be fine because you sparked me back."

"I did?"

"Yes. Quite a strong spark you gave me too."

"So, that means that you're really my father as well as my dad too. Doesn't it?"

"Yes. According to Cybertronian rites and traditions."

"Good! I knew you really loved me."

"Never doubt that.

"Now, you are fifteen, and Ratchet has explained to me that you are approaching your sexual maturity as a human.

"That is why you have been shocking certain male mechs. You have crushes on them. Unfortunately, none of us realized you would develop this ability, or we would have made certain to take better precautions."

"Then why didn't I shock Hound?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well . . . I have a little bit of a crush on Hound. I know I do, but I just never shocked him. My birthmark doesn't get all itchy and painful when I'm around him, it gets a little bit warm, but that's it. And then with Bumblebee and Soundwave, it did, and I just knew I HAD to touch them."

"What? How is this possible?"

"I don't know . . . you're the expert on spark stuff."

"Apparently I'm not," he said distractedly.

"Ratchet, Urielle has admitted to me that she has a crush on Hound as well, but she hasn't spark shared with him. She states that the whole episode started out with her birthmark," Optimus informed his chief medical officer.

"Hmm, well, that's interesting. Perhaps hormones are only part of the key. Keep going with the rest of the speech, if she has a spark and can spark share, she needs to know what she's doing and what will be expected of her," Ratchet radioed back. "I'll let Hound know he needs to return to the industrial complex base until we have this figured out. Just to be on the safe side of things."

Optimus closed the link and addressed his daughter.

"Okay, so maybe there is more to this than initially thought. But still, you need to understand what has happened, and what must, ultimately happen."

"That sounds foreboding," she worried.

"It might be.

"The fact is, you spark shared with Bumblebee and Soundwave. That wouldn't have been a bad thing, except the purpose of the spark you shared was to mark them."

"Marked them for what?"

"You marked them to unify with you."

"Wait a minute. Doesn't that mean marriage?"

"Yes."

"But, I'm only fifteen! I can't get married yet."

"They know this, which is why they both had to leave. If they stayed too close to you, they would, eventually, have had to consummate your mark on them."

"Well, can I take it back?"

"No. Once marked in that manner, it must be brought to fruition."

"Both of them at once?"

Optimus chuckled uncomfortably at that. Although, it would be an amusing thought, if it were anyone but his daughter. "I seriously doubt that. Both will respect your wishes and come to you one at a time, when you are mentally and emotionally ready."

"So, this is sort of a promissory type of arrangement for the moment?"

"You could say that. But, you really need to be aware of what this means."

"No dating human boys my own age? I have to start wearing mittens?"

"No, it doesn't mean mittens or lack of dating, although I really wouldn't mind the latter," he answered with a smile in his voice.

"So, what does this mean?"

"It means that now, for the rest of your mutual lives, you are tied together. Although you can still pursue other relationships with other males, they cannot have any romantic or sexual relationships with any other females.

"Unification in our society was very female based. The only real laws that had to be adhered to were the female had to be unified to the male she had offspring to, and the male could not ever purposely physically harm his female."

"What do you mean by no relationships with females?" she wanted to know.

Yeah, she would have to be told, he figured. "Before the war, males outnumbered females by almost ninety to one. So, in response, we began to follow a strict polyandry policy. Every female had to have at least ten males unified to her before a certain age. The queens would have to have at least fifty. Since there were so many males, it was a natural occurrence for males to engage in intercourse with each other."

"You mean, homosexual relationships?" she just wanted to make sure.

"Yes. Even if a male had a unified female, he could still have any male consort he so wanted. For the most part, the males would seek partners out among their female's collective. Occasionally, he could find an outside suitor, and the female had the option of unifying with him as well, if he wasn't already, or not. Really, it depended on the preferences of the female.

"In fact, the female would usually encourage such couplings; the act allows our species to exchange information among each other quickly regarding breeding programs."

"So, by encouraging same gender pairings, you guys had healthier offspring?"

"Yes. And before you ask, it was acceptable for females to have same gender relationships as well. Again, it allows exchange of information. Although, she had to be unified to males, some females preferred their own company.

"Really, it was all about reproduction and practicality."

"Um, okay.

"So, what do the numbers look like now as far as the gender disparity?"

Optimus sighed with a great deal of regret. "There are no queens left on either side, as far as we are aware. The disparity of genders is males now outnumber females by over three hundred to one."

"Wow! That's really bad.

"So, now that you don't have as many females or the cube, how is your society going to repopulate itself?"

Optimus missed a gear at her question. It was the same thing he asked himself on a more regular basis.

"It is possible to reproduce with other males, although it tends to produce even more males, and requires a lot more resources. Resources we are running out of, unfortunately."

Ellie leaned over so she could lay her head on the center berth. She was thoughtful about what her father had told her. Besides, it was a long day and it was really starting to catch up with her.

"You mean Energon?"

"Primarily."

She was quiet as she thought some more. "Dad?"

"Yes sparkette."

"Do you think I might be some sort of new hope or something for your race?"

"Why would you think that?" Now that she had mentioned it.

"Because I didn't have anything to do with choosing either Bumblebee or Soundwave. It was all about my birthmark. It was the one who made me shock them, and then it was like the Prime mark accepted their return spark."

He was amazed at his little girl. He just told her that she was essentially married to not one, but two mechs easily four times her size, and she wasn't having a meltdown. No, instead, she was worried about his race.

"I don't know baby."

"Maybe we should ask the book next time we get back to the lair," she said as she climbed into the central berth and yawned.

"What book?"

"Mmm, the ledger of Uriel.

"'Child born to be made, whole again by tempered flame. Hope shall fall from darkest sky, to rise again from the blood of the prime,'" she seemed to be quoting.

"'Long and hard, the road she'll travel, to save the race from final peril. Alone she starts this darkest tour, to end it with the love of four; One of road, one of sky, one of knowledge and one of prime.'"

Optimus was stunned. If he understood what she was saying, then she was revealing a prophecy. And, he would bet his last drop of Energon, it had to do with herself.

He sent a radio call to his Autobot detail; redirect to the lair.

**A/N** _Please note, this story tries to address sexuality in terms of logical practicality to a feeling, sentient, mechanical life __forms' society. No judgment is implied or meant. If you don't agree, you don't have to read._


End file.
